A toddler from Southern California is going viral for nominating her dad over her mom for a risky holiday job.
The dad, who goes by @henpecked_hal on Threads and did not give his name, told Newsweek that they had stepped outside for what they hoped would be a festive family project. With two young kids—one 5, the other 4—the parents knew the task would take longer than usual.
“We challenged my kids with the impossible task of unraveling a string of lights, but their attention quickly shifted as I extended a ladder high up in the tree,” the poster said.
View on Threads
His son immediately asked to climb it, but a well-timed “maybe next year” worked as planned. The spirit of adventure then got the best of the poster’s wife, who volunteered to go up instead.
“It was probably the speech to my son about the dangers of climbing a ladder that spooked my daughter; she panicked at the idea of my wife’s ascent,” the man said.
The daughter threw herself around her mother’s leg, clinging tightly and pleading, “No, no, mama, you can’t do it! Don’t risk it!” No amount of reassurance about adult capability could talk her down.
Then came what the dad jokingly described as his daughter’s “epiphany.” Mid-sobs, she straightened up, wiped her face and delivered her solution with absolute confidence: “I know, make DAD do it!”
“I love nothing more than playing up my role as second fiddle, so this was my time to shine,” the dad said. “‘WHAT?!?’ I screamed in faux outrage. ‘You want ME to get hurt?!?!’ The whole family burst out laughing. ‘Yeah!’ my son yelled. That’s my boy.”
The contrast in his daughter’s protectiveness didn’t surprise him. In their home, dad is the hero of pool catapults and high-stakes hide-and-seek—the parent routinely spotted doing things that prompt raised eyebrows from mom.
His wife, on the other hand, fills the gentler, nurturing role his daughter instinctively shields.
“Given that my daughter is quite accustomed to watching me do reckless, ill-advised things, and that she and my wife share a very warm and loving bond, her reaction made perfect sense,” he added.
Over on Threads, the dad’s post has clocked up over 45,000 likes and shares. In the comments, many agreed that the dad should take one for the team.
“She loves mum, but dad is superman. He can do anything so go climb that tree already,” one user posted.
“This made me laugh out loud. Kids are so honest, sometimes they break you without even trying,” another added.
Another comment, liked by the poster, read: “Your family just created a safety hierarchy and you are at the bottom.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get on a ladder again without laughing about this moment,” the dad said. “It will always be a fun family memory to share around the holidays.”